Beneath the River's Edge
by Deritine
Summary: Jareth must pick up the pieces from the Runner, but the pieces have fallen into the River. The River may just keep them.
1. Gekko

Disclaimer: I own Gekko (sort of, it could be a Spirited Away cross if you squint), but pretty much nothing else. It is mainly a Labyrinth fic, but I'm also too lazy to come up with all the other villains. So cameos will be made from other fandoms. So far there is Rise of the Guardians (the movie) and also planning on My Little Ponies, Friendship is Magic (don't judge). :P

WARNING: Despite a crossover with MLP and how incapable that I seem to be to avoid humor- this IS A **SAD STORY**. I am going to do my damnedest to make it have a miserable ending. I may fail. But I'm going to try.

Why?

Because this story is **dedicated to esama**, who has left the internet. Which sort of made me feel like a friend died. I mean, she internet-died. Deleted all her stories, etc. And I was reading her Tumblr as it happened and it was really depressing. Anyway- from that dark place, I am trying to write a serious story. Here it goes.

Ooooooooo

Chapter 1

OoOooooooooo

Gekko pulled himself out of his river onto his favorite sunning spot. Over the years he had worked the soil off of the underlying rock, discouraging any trees or plants to grow beyond some soft moss. The rock smoothed right into the water, making it little to no effort to move from one to the other. He shook vigourously, sending the water from his silky white coat before settling back with a sigh of contentment. His eyes closed as he basked in the late afternoon sun.

His fur began to dry and Gekko contemplated scratching at it with his claws, giving a good shake or going back into the water. He was justifiably shocked when the decision was made for him and a sudden wave of water swamped his resting spot.

Gekko's eyes snapped open just in time to see a wall rising across his river, disrupting its ancient flow. His jaw dropped open in shock. And then he scrambled- the wall was coming right at him! Which was so bizarre that he could not get his short limbs underneath of him quickly enough to move out of the way. The wall thrust up into Gekko's long midsection and rushed upwards. Gekko felt the air whoosh out of his lungs as he was suddenly propelled into the sky in a most disconcerting manner. He was not used to flying a la brick. He clawed with his front feet and kicked with the back in order to slip over the top of the structure, sliding along its sharp slope until he splashed down into his disrupted river.

The cries of the fish, the trees, the banks! Gekko swam in confusion and anger, trying to find what had caused this erection. Some enemy. There was no enemy, and no way to swim in any direction but forward. Gekko gnashed his teeth and pulled the river to him. It obeyed, as best it could, but it, too, could not get over the walls, which rose as high as needed to contain all that attempted to cross it.

Quickly, though, Gekko and his river found that the walls had holes in them. Moving holes that tried to defy their perceptions. But the magic was meant to deceive sight not touch and thus it was quite impossible to hide from the flow of liquid through them. Gekko worked at the wall, flowing water into the cracks and crevices, of which there were many. But though the stone appeared to be in terrible shape, it was actually quite resistant to the river's efforts. For the magic of the bricks was such that it flowed like water itself, twisting and reforming and not at all like a normal rock. All he got for his efforts were clouds of sparkling substance in his water.

Gekko stopped his attack in consternation. How did one erode a rock that would not sit still?

It was not in water's nature to be angry long, however, so with the stilling of his attacks, both he and the water calmed. The walls of the structure shrunk as well when they were no longer on attack. Gekko regarded the wall and it seemed as though it may be regarding him right back.

"If you allow my river to flow with minimal convolutions, I will allow this." Gekko decided. It certainly was not the first nor the last time that he had had a sudden course change. The river would run muddy and carry broken things with it for a time, but that would pass. Sooner if Gekko had his say (which he did).

Gekko flowed through the paths in the wall and soon could feel how the magic of it responded. He nudged it gently this time, not trying to conquer, but rather cajole. Soon the holes in the walls were lined up reasonably well to avoid a complete restructuring. The walls resisted and straight passage through them, so Gekko coaxed the river beneath the walls, along side it, eddying in fascinating patterns and creating new habitats for his fish, his small crabs and salamanders, his moss and grasses.

"This is good." Gekko nodded to himself. Though his sunning spot was a casualty of the whole thing. No matter what he tried, the rock was transected multiple times by vertical surfaces. It seemed the walls had a high affinity for other rock. Oh well. He was of the river, after all. It would be another long while before he could carve out another spot, but in the meantime his raging had felled a tree. Gekko set about polishing the bark to a pleasing smoothness so that he might lay upon it.

OoOoOoo

A commotion at his delta awoke Gekko some time later. He yawned- the chill to the air was making him sluggish today. It might be soon enough that he was frozen over entirely. He flowed and glided through the now familiar patterns of the river walls, flowing under and through and sideways. Though they changed constantly, there was a rhythm to it. One he now well knew.

He let himself shimmer just under the surface, listening to the human ranting in front of him. He was wary- humans had been very bad for many of his fellow rivers and he did not want them diverting him as they had others. The walls were bad enough.

"How am I supposed to even get into the blasted thing?" The human threw up his long, long arms in disgust. "I don't have Hognose around to show me the door!" He kicked the rock and then started jumping about. Gekko whispered to the slime to move a little to the left... a splash heralded the human's ignoble dunk into Gekko's river. Gekko took the opportunity to fully study the human, using the water to evaluate the whole of him.

Not so buoyant, that was for sure. Despite or perhaps because of the panicked thrashing, the human was sinking rapidly. The fluff of hair on top of his head had slicked down, but this human seemed a bit odd. He had magic to him, and his features were much more pointed than Gekko had heard they usually were. Maybe it wasn't a human but just something trying to look like it? Maybe it was a fox. They took human form. But Gekko was fairly sure this was a male, and those seemed to be female.

Fortunately for the human-not-human, the river was not deep where he had slipped in and Gekko was not that kind of river, to drown just for the trespass. He was too curious to let this man become a body to wash out to sea. Besides- it would not be a long journey at all. They were already at the delta. There was only so much information Gekko could gather from a corpse.

The human drug himself to the bank, which was quite muddy from the recent course change, and still slimy from the now eager sludge which had tripped him to begin with.

The human-not-human put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, no longer moving.

Gekko thought perhaps this one being was not so much a threat. Especially as he now had such a good defense. He was beginning to like these walls quite a lot.

"Why are you here?" Gekko asked.

The human-not-human jumped and almost dunked again.

Gekko waited patiently, only his glittering eyes above the water. He thought the threat was low, but there was no reason to make himself vulnerable.

"Great." The other replied. "It's one of _those_ rivers."

Gekko was genuinely puzzled. "What other kind of rivers might there be?" All rivers were like him. They met in the sea sometimes, swapping tales for a brief time before the salt became too much for them.

"Ones that don't talk back."

"How sad." Gekko blew out spray from his mouth to show his disapproval.

The biped ignored him and instead went to the wall again, feeling along it and seemingly getting frustrated at relatively regular intervals and hitting it with his fists. Gekko, with his increased rapport with the stone, could tell it was laughing at the human-not-human, or at least as close as rock could do so.

"I don't know what hitting yourself with accomplish. It is not the kind of mineral to enjoy a blood sacrifice." Gekko commented.

"Are you still there?" The rather rapidly drying intruder asked nastily. Gekko revised his conclusion that the mess of white atop his head was fur and instead added feathers as a possibility. Sometimes he did wish he had feathers, as that dried quicker, but it did tend to get into everything, so perhaps the fur was better after all.

"If you tickle it, maybe you will get better results." Gekko suggested. Not that he knew what the other was attempting, but the wall did seem much more conducive to gentle, fun communication, as he had learned from its first incursion into his territory.

"Didn't I tell you to leave?" The human-not-human spun, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at Gekko's eyes in the muddy water.

"No." Gekko replied.

"Then leave." He growled.

"I do not have to leave, this is my river." Gekko replied reasonably.

"This," The biped gestured at the wall, "is not a river."

"Very astute." Gekko replied, rolling his eyes. "But it is now part of my river, so it is my boundary. I cannot leave it until it is no more." Which was simply the truth, though it seemed to have stumped the other for the time being. But that was true of anything near the river- eventually Gekko would destroy it and something else would take its place, as was true of everything since his birth from a tiny spring let loose in an earthquake many, many cycles ago.

"River." The biped stood up even taller.

"Gekko." Gekko said, assuming that the being was addressing him.

"Greco- you will open this Labyrinth for me."

Gekko looked to the wall, which was gleaming in pride. So, that was its name. "No." Gekko turned back.

"What!?"

"Why should I? You are not like what the others say that a human is like, but I have heard the stories. And I do not wish a human to come to my banks for who knows what purpose." He stopped there, a bit surprised to have spoken even the much.

"Human!? HUMAN!?"

Gekko huffed at the noise level. Maybe if he went up to his source it would be quieter...

"I am fae- King, in fact. King of the goblins."

Gekko looked the 'fae' over dubiously. "You don't look much like a goblin." He said finally.

"I'm not a goblin!"

"Well, you are loud." Gekko observed, then slipped through the twisty magic of the Labyrinth, making sure it changed behind him. He smirked when he heard a decisive _smack_ and inventive cursing as the 'King' ran right into what had been a gap in the wall.

OooooOOOo

"Grippo!"

Gekko sighed unhappily. He had not had a moment's peace since this fae thing had shown up. Now the moon was out and shining peaceably onto his river. And Gekko just wanted to set his water to absorbing the energy, as it was his closest affinity (as nice as the sun felt, the moon was what he could best use).

"It's Gekko." Gekko said tiredly.

"As if you would tell me your True Name." The fae scoffed.

"Why should I not?" Gekko asked in confusion. "My name is my name. Everyone knows it."

The fae blinked at him. "It gives me power over you."

Gekko scoffed. "You have no power over me."

The fae actually recoiled from that pronoucement.

"Oh, are you one of those creatures of words?" Gekko guessed. "I see."

"What do you mean you see, you foolish creature?" The fae growled. "Magic is power and the power is the words."

"Well, creature of words, fae who comes to my banks. Tell me why I should help you?"

The fae rubbed one of his hands against his forehead. "I need to defeat this Labyrinth."

"Why?"

"Because my Kingdom is in shambles and it needs to come back! Else all I have and know will fade away."

"The walls are happy here." Gekko pointed out. "We have come to an understanding."

"And will it be happy with no one to sustain it? It will crumble to nothing if I am no more."

Gekko could sense from the Labyrinth that it did know this. Interesting. "It is rock's role to crumble."

"Not this rock's." The fae glared at his eyes.

"Perhaps." Gekko allowed. It did flow more like water. It recognized this fae, as well, though it did not have any more inclination to obey than Gekko did.

"This rock is mine and I must defeat it." The fae tapped his foot.

"Why?"

"Because the Runner defeated me." the fae grit out.

"So?"

"So I must defeat their additions individually instead of getting them by default into my Labyrinth."

Gekko swirled thoughtfully. "Why?"

"You infuriating beast!" The fae threw up his hands. "Because I get precious few runners, so even the scraps of imagination they leave are precious!" He growled and pulled at his hair/feathers on his head in agitation. Gekko could sense water gathering in the fae, in the eyes. The rivers close to the humans all agreed that the eye water was best avoided. It led to drownings of very sour humans.

"I will show you how to get in." Gekko decided. "But I will flow no further with your current." It would be nice to have his sunning spot back, and the moon was making him feel full, powerful and content. Perhaps some of the walls would stay- he could sustain them as well as this stick-man.

"You will?" The fae sounded a bit pathetic even to the river's ears.

Gekko sighed and small waves lapped at the fae's ankles. He lifted himself from the water, flowing toward the fae, whose eyes had gone quite large. "Hold your breath, if you are one that breathes air." Gekko gave that advice before taking the black spikey material at the back of the fae's neck in his teeth with a firm grip and flowing quickly back to the water, down, down, under and sideways, with a practiced twist. And then back to the surface, as he could sense in the water that the fae was taking water into his lungs and was not pleased about that fact.

When they broke the surface Gekko flung the fae onto his sunning log and called the water from the fae's lungs. It was not a pretty site as the bedraggled fae coughed, sputtered and held onto the log for dear life.

Though the coughing was annoying, Gekko missed it as soon as the fae got his breath back.

"You idiotic creature! You half drowned me!"

"More than half." Gekko gave his professional opinion. "Almost completely."

The fae glared at him.

"I did tell you to hold your breath. And I called the water back out." He said reasonably. "I could have just left you to fully drown and kept the walls for myself.

The fae turned paler, which Gekko noted with some interest. "You couldn't have done that."

"Why not?" Gekko frowned. He had done it to other creatures before, though he was not angry nor full of rain today.

"I am too powerful to... to... _drown_ in a river!"

"None are too powerful." Gekko said sagely. "Water wins in the end."

The fae looked at him in consternation before apparently deciding that that was the end of the discussion and beginning to pace the log. "Where is the next entrance? I can't walk in this! It's a bleeding river!"

"There is no blood in my water!" Gekko protested.

"And if I fly I'll break my neck." The fae continued to grouse with no apparent acknowledgment of Gekko's comments.

Gekko sighed in annoyance. "Well, whatever you do, move off my basking spot." The fae ignored him until Gekko decided that he had had enough and he wanted to bask right now, after all. He moved to put his body up onto the large log and the fae scrambled out of his way in a pleasing manner. The 'King' was appropriately terrified of the river, after all.

"Why are you so massive?" The fae grumbled.

"Thank you." Gekko shook out his fur, ignoring the cries from the fae and settling down with a satisfying yawn. The yawn made the fae quiet, so Gekko did it again, making sure his long fangs were scant inches from the fae's face. The fae made a pleasing panicked noise and almost fell off the log, saving himself by grabbing onto the fur of Gekko's neck to steady himself. Gekko growled and was quickly released.

After a moment of tense silence (on the fae's part, Gekko could care less) the fae began pacing. Gekko was beginning to like the idea of drowning him after all...

"Why settle in a river? It makes no sense! It was a desert in the runner's imagination. There is plenty of power here, but enough that it has warped everything... almost destroyed it..." The fae began to pull at his feathers on his head again.

Gekko sighed and raised his head. The fae went utterly still and started to leak water out of his skin. "A hint, then, so you may stop annoying me." Gekko said.

"Oh?" The fae asked hopefully.

"The walls are not as they seem."

"Obviously." The fae scoffed.

Gekko glared at him and the fae gulped. "Watch the water- the water does not lie." And with that he put down his head and napped.

OoOOoooOOoo

The walls disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, again putting a great upset into the river as it suddenly found its container in a completely different shape. The banks of old were no longer quite fitting and there were juts of silt and debris that had been against the rock were now resting on emptiness and quickly becoming flooded.

Gekko again was disturbed and it took much frantic scrambling to prevent himself from just becoming a shallow marsh or something equally embarrassing.

Gekko would have been willing to leave it at that- good riddance to that fluffy fae annoyance- except that he could still feel the walls. They were somewhere else, now, somewhere with no water. They were unhappy and calling to him. Gekko did maybe want to visit... he missed the twisty safety, even if it was rock, but he had heard stories about what happened to rivers that left their banks. Especially if they left to somewhere other than water.

He instead focused on getting his water to run clear, the creatures that inhabited him settled. It took a while for it to become acceptable again, but the call of the Labyrinth did not decrease.

With an unhappy sigh, Gekko hesitated. But... he could feel the _dryness_ of the entire structure. It made him feel parched no matter how much he submerged himself. With a final grumpy shake he took off to find the Labyrinth. He would just have to remember his name, and his self. He would be back. _With_ the walls. He had 'defeated' the Labyrinth, too. Why shouldn't he keep it?

OooOoOO

There was water here, as it turned out. But it was tied up in swamps mostly. It was not too much trouble to coax a spring to form in the center of the twisting walls, where Gekko's influence was still quite strong. It seemed the 'King' had only taken a single route through the maze, whereas Gekko had been flitting through and about the paths and the changing portals for many a moon. He noted with pleasure that many of the paths were still underground; one of these he had chosen as his spring. The rest quickly flooded as well, though flooding the entire maze was beyond him. His river was not here- his source far away. Though this new source... perhaps he could spawn finally. Though that did seem to bring nothing but trouble to the bigger rivers...

"What... what... what is this?" A small, short creature was spluttering at the edge of one of the new pools at the base of the walls. This particular pool was not a passage at the moment. Flying creatures had taken up residence in the reeds which Gekko had encouraged to grow on their edge. "What's Jareth playing at! This has always been rock, always! Only the Bog has water! Look at all these _fairies_!"

Gekko formed at the surface as the little creature began to spray something unpleasant. "Do not pollute me, small thing!" He boomed, making the creature fall over.

"Who is this! Jareth captured a new guardian?"

"I know not who 'Jareth' is, but I belong to no one." Gekko replied irritably.

"Jareth is the Goblin King. If you live here, you are his." The small thing replied.

"Oh, him." Gekko sniffed disdainfully. "He does not rule me. These walls are mine, now. They were parched, so I come to give them a proper soaking."

"Th...th... the walls do not belong to you!" The creature spluttered.

"They call to me. I know them. They are mine." Gekko stated.

"Wait until Jareth hears about this! Ridiculous."

"Can you not bring him here?" Gekko whined. "He is loud." He supposed there wasn't any help for it. "Just do not pollute me."

"Stop making ponds for the fairies to nest and I won't have to pollute ya!"

Gekko frowned. "Why should I now make ponds? You would prefer I flow through this Labyrinth as a river full?"

"No, no." The knobby hands waved in the air. "Not at all."

"Then deal with the 'fairies.'" Gekko advised.

OoooOOOoo

"Hopper, I do not have time for this."

"It was right here! Talked to me, I swear Jareth. And it's Hoggle."

Gekko opened one eye to take in the scene. It was the thin long fae and that one with the polluting spray gun.

"Nonsense." Jareth snapped a leather glove against his wrist threateningly. "I don't have time for fanciful tales about things in the Labyrinth. The water has simply pooled in the underground segments."

"But..." Hoggle protested.

"I must continue to track down the pieces of the kingdom." Jareth snapped. "Unless you want to find another place to live, Hubbard."

"Hoggle! And no." Hoggle said unhappily.

"And don't use my name around potential intruders, Hugswort- you would think you would know better than that, even with your limited intelligence."

"Hey!" Hoggle protested.

Gekko submerged the rest of the way under the water. Time to go back to his river. The Labyrinth would be fine now- it was properly watered and no longer calling to him. With a flick of his tail-

"See! Right there!"

He was gone.

OoOOoOooo

A/N: Gekko is based on the woodblock print Ryo Sho Ten by Ogata Gekko. Asian dragons are often associated with rivers, as is seen in Spirited Away.


	2. Jareth

OoOoO

Chapter 2

OooOoOO

"Well, Goblin King- that took longer than usual."

Jareth stalked into his castle, scowling at the monochromatic creature lounging on his throne. "Pitch. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just visiting a fellow dream-walker." Pitch studied his black nails with golden eyes.

"Santa kicked your ass again?" Jareth cooed.

Pitch glared at him. "Don't insult me. I keep those _Guardians_ from paying any attention to you."

"Ah, there's where you are wrong." Jareth smirked. "They do not pay attention to me because of other reasons. They foil you because you are trying to usurp their power, draining all of the wonder, joy, and happiness of children's memories and dreams and turning it all to fear and nightmare."

Pitch stood in a smooth motion, scowling at Jareth. "As is my right! I was all-powerful before that damn moon interfered." He narrowed his eyes at Jareth. "And they would come after you, baby-snatcher. Of course they would."

Jareth slid around Pitch and sunk into his chair. "Ah, but there again, things are not always what they seem. Do you really think they would pay so much attention to one who takes the dark side of childhood and turns it into something... more? I take care of the children who are broken by their lives. I take them in and I punish the ones who did it to them. Why would they interfere?"

"You do make a good point, Goblin King." Pitch cupped his chin with a long-fingered hand. "Why would they interfere with their garbage man?"

"Get out of my castle." Jareth growled.

"You wouldn't turn an old friend to the street, would you?" Pitch asked, his eyes going wide and innocent.

"Feel free to bunk with some of the goblins. The runner was quite the innocent, so they are quite fluffy and friendly right now." Jareth replied in equally insincere friendliness.

"Ch." Pitch pouted as he glided past chicken droppings and a passed out goblin. "Fine then, Goblin King. I will remember this when you are next in trouble."

"I'm sure." Jareth bared his teeth at the boogeyman. "I'll look forward to it."

"Ta." Pitch flicked his fingers over his shoulder, not bothering to turn around, as he faded into the darkness.

Jareth sighed and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. Not that he really minded the other nightmare inducing fae, it was just hard to deal with the gloating asshole after the quest he had just had.

OooOoooo

Jareth quickly answered the doors correctly and sent them packing back to the Labyrinth. He sighed and wiped his hands in satisfaction. That had been a particularly bad Runner. It was never easy when they read That Book, as he was bound to the words. Every time he had to fall in love with one of those little assholes, only to have it ripped out and shattered... it didn't matter that it was spell induced, the feelings were as real as those created through other reasons. And the heart break as real.

"What did you do to those creatures!"

And now he had to deal with more residents of these backwards little realms. Jareth turned slowly and raised an eyebrow at the bright orange pony. With a yellow mane. And a cowboy hat. Even in the Labyrinth, this creature would stand out. "I sent them back where they belong." He deigned to reply. Not that it seemed to help.

"That didn't seem like they wanted to go..." Came a soft whisper from an, honest to Darkness, pink haired, yellow pony with _wings_.

"Yes, well." Jareth pulled his gloves up dismissively.

"Hey! Don't just... stand there, two legger! Every pony deserves to be free!"

This one had rainbow hair and Jareth just rolled his eyes. He turned on his heal and leapt into the air, transforming into an owl mid jump. The potential problems with this occurred to him as the two _flighted ponies_ (he really hoped he never had to come back to this bit of reality).

Fortunately, he was not trying to cross a physical distance.

"You can't outfly me! Hey!"

Jareth ignored the rainbow pony as he popped through the barrier to his own world.

"What was that?" The purple one with a horn asked. "I haven't seen anything like that in all of my books."

"I don't know." Sniffed the other horned one next to her. "But I do know that he has _fabulous_ fashion. I think I have a new line for the party next week..."

OooOoo

A/N: Pitch is from Rise of the Guardians (the movie)- not sure who did that. All the ponies are from My Little Ponies- Friendship is Magic. Which belongs to Hasbro I think. They won't show up again, but it's a good show.

Yes, this chapter is short. I'm also not doing so well on avoiding humor, but c'est la vie.


	3. Mr and Mrs Worm

OoOoOOooo

Chapter 3

Oooooooo

The first invader in Gekko's water was unwelcome, but almost he could ignore it. The human was slimy, and his water was turbulent. If it had been just in Gekko's river, he would have washed the human out to the sea and let the dragons there take care of the offensive person. But it wasn't in his river. It was in the Labyrinth. The stones were calling to him again.

It was easy enough to pull the air from the human's lungs. Easy enough to expel him to the side of the pond where the fairies could feast on the body, if they cared to. Gekko knew the body to be foul and lacking nutrition, but the fairies seemed to exist on dust, so they might be fine.

The next invader came more quickly, and was even more offensive than the first. The second Gekko could not expel as easily as the first, as the Labyrinth seemed to find some sort of mineral joy in drowning it. But that meant that Gekko could see flashes of the human's past.

A child hid in the corner, its face turned away and turned down to the floor. It was dirty, thin, with bruises on the left arm. Water was leaking from the eyes as well being on the floor- it appeared that the sink was dripping, and it was eating into the floorboards of pressed together wood. Gekko approved. Though the general state of confinement for the water seemed unpleasant.

A bottle of fermented water shattered against the wall, bringing Gekko's attention back to the child, who was now cowering in a pool of glass and the partially evaporating liquid.

Gekko slid through the water, coming up underneath the Labyrinth and physically expelling the bloated corpse into the Labyrinth proper.

The Labyrinth, however, was upset. It was not enough time in the water.

"Not enough time?" Gekko spit out incredulously. "He is quite, quite dead."

There was a feeling of many hours- perhaps ten?

"He is dead. The time can pass as easily on the ground as polluting my water." Gekko replied decisively. That said, he went back to the main river, grumbling the whole way.

Behind him, Hoggle gasped as he discovered the remains.

After this, it was an almost daily struggle to get the Labyrinth to spit out its prey. The images were never fun that he got from the people lured into his depths. They came from places where the rain was acid, there was constantly salty tears in all the memories, and occasionally blood or something even less pleasant. He was getting a thorough education on the various fluids that humans used to intoxicate themselves, fill their veins with confusion, leaked out of their bodies from basically all over... it was something he could have easily have continued until the end of time and been fine not knowing.

Unacceptable.

Gekko curled protectively in the depths of the first underground tunnel. And waited.

Soon enough a human appeared around the corner. It approached timidly, poking at the wall with one finger and frowning. A plant with eyes on stalks blinked in a suspiciously coordinated pattern. The depths between the eyestalks were sharp with teeth and it was dripping poisonous ichor. There was a blue centipede that followed the swaying of the faintly glowing golden orbs. The human started away as the tentacles tried to trap him.

"EEEEEEELlllloooo." Screeched the centipede, rearing up and gnashing its mandibles. Red fabric lashed out from below the glinting jaws and snapped at the human, who fell back with a cry.

The reeds around the pool tangled the human's feet. Fairies flew up in a cloud of blurred wings and shining, ivory teeth open wide, their tonges bright pink, cyan and glowing lime. Soon their mouths were filled with bright red and the human was bleeding from a hundred bites. It fell back, back.

Gekko was there to meet it- snapping off its head and spitting it out down the corridor. He knocked the rest of the body into the wall, where it made a noise in between a thud and a crunch, with blood spraying out from the neck and making a wild pattern against the glittering stone.

The eye stalks pulsed with the arterial spray as it slowed and finally stopped while the centipede went after the head. It picked it up by the stump of neck remaining and placed it between its front limbs, then expertly gnawing at the skull and twisting so that the top of the skull and scalp popped off, revealing the slightly mushy and reddened brain. Another centipede crawled out of the wall, this one with a large, gravid midsection. It delicately sucked the brains out of the skull.

Gekko approved, despite the continued complaints from the Labyrinth. It was wholly impossible for the human to return from death now, even with the most extreme of interventions. And with the brain destroyed, only the heart could give memories, if it were to fall in the water. Since none of these wastes of space had had souls to speak of, that was a non-issue.

"What... what are you lot _doing?_" Jareth stormed into view, wearing a cape that was fluffed up in his agitation. "You never let anything get past the very beginning! There are twelve hours and _thirty eight_ minutes left! What are we supposed to do?" He didn't seem particularly disturbed by the centipedes drinking from their grisly cup, nor the eye capped tentacles that were trying to caress him.

"Tha misssssusss wanted teeeeee." The first centipede clacked.

"She always wants bleeding tea!" Jareth snapped. "That doesn't mean you need to decapitate a Runner and feed her brains!"

"Warm like teeee." The centipede argued.

Jareth rubbed his eyes with his first two fingers. "Fine, fine, whatever." He sighed. "With you this terrifying this one must have been quite a horrible person, that this is their expectation. Not that I couldn't figure that out with where I got the child from." He dropped his hand and spun on one heel to one wall. Gekko had a brief moment of panic as he thought himself discovered, but Jareth just waved a hand and conjured a large, flat round object with two metal bars attached to its middle, radiating out.

The Goblin King idly spun the larger bar around and around, the shorter one following suit. "Having to re-order time, ridiculous. I suppose it is nice to not have to defeat the Labyrinth again, though..." There was a deep, reverberating chime, then another, then another and again- repeating thirteen times in total.

With a shimmer of something akin to heat haze, the two centipedes shrunk, the head dropping with a thunk and then a splat, rolling with a scrape of bone on rock. Two tufted worms were left- one with a fashionable red scarf, the other in a delicate blue bonnet. The eye tentacles shrunk down to short stalks, and it lost its teeth entirely.

"Well, Goblin King- fancy a drink? The missus just brewed up a cup."

"Oh, yes, dear. I did!"

"That's quite alright." Jareth grimaced.

"Oh, no, dear- I do love brain- good for the young'uns, you know. But the tea inside is made from some absolutely lovely tea leaves that Sir Didymus was so kind to fetch us from over by the Bog." The worm in the bonnet said cheerfully.

"I think I'll live without it."

"Suit yerself." The two worms shrugged and retreated back into the wall proper.

"This just doesn't seem like the work of an insect..." Jareth mused to himself, pushing at the battered head with the toe of his boot dubiously. "What's said is said and the child is mine regardless." He rolled his wrist and a crystal appeared. He threw it at the body and both parts of it disappeared, along with the blood and other bits of tissue strewn about the corridor. "Just remember that the farther they get, the more energy and imagination is infused into the Labyrinth. Killing them accomplishes nothing."

"We win, don't we?" The missus asked, shrugging. "And they deserve it."

Jareth sighed and leapt into the air, changing into an owl and flying off into the glittering fog.

Gekko huffed and settled down for a nap. He had a feeling that wouldn't be the only one for tonight. And regardless of what that bird brained king wanted, it was a much nicer conclusion in Gekko's eyes. At least _he_ didn't have to deal with any foreign memories or emotions. He didn't know how rivers that went through cities managed it.

OoooOOoo

"Oh, don't go in there, dearie."

Gekko opened an eye, looking up at a young human girl talking to the worm. Who was still a worm. If anything, he looked more friendly than he usually did, with big bushy eyebrows and his scarf looking quite cozy.

"Why not?" The girl asked.

"There's a dragon in that water and he's a bit grumpy." The missus noted.

"Hah! That's a way to put it, love." Mr. Worm replied.

"Oh? Maybe he would be less grumpy if he had someone to talk to?"

"Why don't you just run along, dear. You're little brother is waiting for you, isn't he?" Mrs. Worm suggested.

"Oh!" The girl ran off into the distance, her sudden movement causing dust to kick up in her wake.

"Well, she didn't want to go that way. It leads straight to the castle!" Mr. Worm shook his head. "The King will not be pleased."

"Why are you helping that one?" Gekko asked. They had not seemed at all sympathetic to prior human Runners.

"Well, we are reflections of the Runner- the whole Labyrinth is. When they are horrible, dark, dangerous, nasty people, then we are, too." Mr. Worm nodded sagely.

"And when a flighty dear like that accidentally wishes away her little brother, we are a bit fluff headed as well." Mrs. Worm added.

"It's more common that we are selfish and cruel, but inside still a decent sort of being." Mr. Worm shrugged. "When the Runner wins, anyway."

"The Runner will win?"

"Probably already has." Mr. Worm said fatalistically.

"Well, the Labyrinth would be fracturing then, wouldn't it? She came though here."

Gekko looked after where the girl had been running. If it fractured, would it go back to his river? That... might be problematic. It was just recovering from the last upset and he almost had the basking spot back to where it would be usable. And if someone else were to conquor it, would he lose control?

When he felt the Labyrinth starting to shake and dissolve, he disagreed. Though movement was good, stability was as well. They couldn't be flash floods all the time. He settled into his deep currents and pulled the rock with him. It stayed.

Gekko smirked. Today, water won rock's game.


	4. Discord

OooOOoo

Chapter 4

oOOoo

Jareth was not amused. Not only had the Runner gotten straight to the castle with seemingly no difficulties- he was back _here_.

"Why." Jareth asked the two doors, his eye twitching.

"We like it here!" The top red head replied. "They are nice! Unlike some people in the Labyrinth."

"Well, wasn't it nice for you to have a little vacation?" Jareth asked sarcastically. All four heads nodded. "And if you don't get back right now, I will Bog you all."

"You can't do anything!" The bottom blue peaked out and said.

"Yeah! You have to defeat us first!"

Jareth smiled dangerously. "I know that all of you tell half-truths, so don't even start that tired riddle." All their mouths shut with a snap. "And I would like to point out that you are a door... with no walls. I can and will walk behind you and kick your collective asses."

The heads looked back, noting that he was right- they were just doorframes in the open air.

"I did feel a bit of a breeze." Commented the top right.

"If we was the Sphinx- you would be sorry!" Bottom right snapped.

"Ah, but if you were the Sphinx, then no one would have gotten past you, would they?" Jareth smirked.

"Obviously!" Retorted the top blue at the same time bottom red said "well, there was the one time..."

"Get back to the Labyrinth!" Jareth bellowed. Both doors 'eeped' and burst into a puff of glitter, presumably on their way back to their approximate normal locale.

"Defeated again?" A voice said behind Jareth.

"If I have to talk to one more Bog-cursed pony..." Jareth growled, but stopped as he turned around to face a scaly belly. He looked up... and up, into the amused red mismatched eyes smirking down at him. "Great. Another dragon. Even better."

"Do you ever get headaches?" The dragon asked.

"Pardon?" Jareth furrowed his brow in confusion. This world was worse than his Labyrinth!

"From the different pupil sizes. I find that sometimes the difference in light causes me to have headaches- not to mention the problems with depth perception! I'm sure you have encountered them as well- though you seemed to fly pretty well." The dragon mused, stroking its goatee with a scaled and taloned hand.

"Well." Jareth blinked. "Yes, it does, but in my owl form I actually have conscious control of the pupils independent of..." He stopped himself. "Who are you?" He scowled.

The dragon grinned. "Ah, Discord, at your service." The dragon swept a deep bow, his lion's paw sweeping in front of him as he lashed his red scaled tail. "And I'm actually a draconequus." He stomped his hoof. "See? Because a _real_ dragon is much too mundane." His red and yellow eyes sparkled in glee. "Tell me about the one you encountered, though- that tale sounds absolutely delightful!"

"I think not." Jareth grumbled, turning to leave. There were certain spots where one could come and go from realms, and this dragon-whatever had made him lost track of the exact location.

"Oh, come on- just a name! Maybe I can help you deal with it?" Discord waggled his large pale grey eyebrows. "It'll be fun~!"

"It was a river, it tried to drown me, and it said its name was Gekko." Jareth relented.

"Gekko!" Discord stood up rather straighter. "What's he doing messing with other realms? He's such a calm, deep river. Never bothers with people, hardly ever _drowns_ anyone."

"Well, he's been drowning my Runners." Jareth crossed his arms over his chest.

"He what?" Discord asked in disbelief. Then he grinned. "How positively _chaotic_. I wonder what he is thinking..."

Jareth poked Discord in his scaly belly. "Do NOT come to my Kingdom."

"What if I wish away a pony?" Discord asked, the picture of innocence.

"Then I will be positively _gleeful_ when the River bites its head off." Jareth snapped.

"He's actually _biting _people? What kind of Runner do you have in your Kingdom?" Discord was looking even more intrigued by the very idea.

Jareth rubbed his temples. "I only accept bipedal children and infants." He said finally.

"Ok. Any other conditions?"

"That was not a condition!" Jareth snapped. "Do I come to your world and turn everything upside down?"

"Was that an offer?" Discord asked, looking overly excited by the idea. "Your presence alone has all of Ponyville in an uproar."

"Ponyville." He muttered in disgust. "Of course." Jareth finally located the tear that would allow him to get the Bog out of this conversation. He flew away as rapidly as he could, ignoring Discord behind him, though he would have done well to listen.

"Careful with that River, Goblin King. He's a Force, not just any old creature!"

OooOOooo

With some consternation, Jareth realized that a large portion of his Labyrinth was still where it was supposed to be... but... it was not because, as he had foolishly thought, because the Runner had not conquered it. Or, at least, that wasn't the only reason.

"Let me in!" He kicked the outer wall. Nothing happened.

"Eh, Jareth. Why are you kicking the door?"

"Hugby- what are you talking about?" Jareth contemplated if kicking the dwarf would make him feel better.

Hoggle went over to the wall and pushed it... or rather, the door that Jareth hadn't been able to see, open. Jareth strolled through it as if he had simply been testing Hoggle. He also walked straight by a suspiciously deep looking pond without acknowledging the eyes in their depth.

"That jerk never says 'thank you'!" Hoggle groused. "See what help he gets if he keeps up with that attitude."

"Help?" The pond rumbled. "We can help him, Hoggle."

"Don't even start, you. You've been doing quite a good job with the drowning." Hoggle rolled his eyes. "Do any more any _you'll_ be King."

"Hmm." Gekko dipped under the water.

OoOOo

A/N: Back to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for this cameo.


	5. Sarah

OoooOOOoo

Chapter

OooOOoooo

Jareth was bored- he hated balls and didn't know why he had come to this one. It seemed like it was a masquerade on top of being a slow, boring sort of dance. He sighed. Tales, Legends, even small mythical creatures and stories liked these balls. But they never were all that exciting to the Goblin King. He much preferred the kind of dancing that he got up to with his subjects and the Wished Away- dances that defy gravity, involved kicking and wild singing.

"Hey, there- fancy seeing you at one of these."

Jareth snorted. "I don't know why I come anymore." He glanced at the person who had dared to come talk to him. He supposed his air of ill-suppressed annoyance was putting everyone else off. He was surprised to see a young, human-appearing woman with wavy dark hair and bright green eyes. She looked a lot like the last Runner he had been forced to fall in love with. He looked away.

"Well, even a hermit like you needs to have a little more social interaction than goblins can give once in a while." She laughed.

"Hmph. I have had my fill of dragons and ponies recently as well." He quirked a side of his mouth involuntarily.

"Oh, alright then." She nodded sagely. "Obviously good conversationalists based on your recommendation of them."

Jareth huffed a small laugh and turned to her. "Well, who are you then, my dear? It seems that you have me at a disadvantage."

She beamed a smile at him. "Oh, I'm a minor story..." She twirled a strand of hair in her finger. "Not even a main character, I'm afraid. And you know how it is for women."

"Don't even have a name?" Jareth smirked. "Typical. Your storyteller has no imagination."

She smiled sadly and shrugged.

"Well, my dear, for this story, how about we call you 'Sarah'?" Jareth said recklessly.

The newly christened Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What a common name. But it seems to have some significance for you."

Jareth shrugged and crossed his arms.

Sarah kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." She smiled against his skin. "You want to get out of here?"

"Absolutely." Jareth smirked.

Sarah led him to the balcony, which wasn't exactly what Jareth had thought she had meant, but perhaps she was from a rather innocent tale. "Well, what do you think?" Sarah spun and faced him, grinning.

"It's a lovely view." Jareth said diplomatically. But when he looked at her rosy expression, sparkling eyes and the elaborate white gown- the statement became more truthful.

Sarah laughed. "So generous of you."

"I like to think so." He moved over to her and leaned against the balcony beside her. "Though most don't seem to think of it that way."

"I guess it depends on your basis for comparison." Sarah shrugged.

Jareth felt something lurch inside of him at that statement. "Indeed."

Sarah spun and leaned close to him and Jareth felt his pulse jump in his neck. "So, are you this charming with all the girls, or am I a lucky one?" With that, she pushed him delicately on his chest, sending him tumbling over the edge.

…

And into water.

Jareth managed to keep from being submerged, barely. So great was his shock it took a second to notice the ungodly stench that now was all around him.

"That little wench Bogged me!" Jareth shouted in surprised anger.

"It's only fair, Goblin King." A voice laughed from above.

Jareth glared up at the apparently aptly named female. "Fair? What do you know of fairness?"

"Oh, don't be so grumpy." She smiled from where she was hanging upside down by her knees, her gown threatening to spill indecently over her head.

"Grumpy! You Bogged me. I am far beyond grumpy!" Jareth hissed.

"Hmm. It seems you missed a spot." Sarah commented.

"What?" Jareth frowned. Then his eyes widened. Sarah had released her grip on the tree limb and was falling. Jareth scrambled back but she hit with a truly impressive splash. The wave washed over his head. Jareth had thought himself mad before- but that was when he had still had his well coiffed hair. Now he was positively livid! "You! You!" He spluttered, wiping off the much from his face. Then he caught site of Sarah. His jaw snapped closed with a click. "You're _filthy._"

Sarah laughed. "I hope my gamble that you know a way to clean off this stench proves true."

"And if it doesn't?" Jareth asked, actually curious.

"Oh, well then we will be forever stuck together as social pariahs, covered in this ungodly odor. We will resent each other mightily, but begrudgingly keep living together, as we have no option."

"That's... a really depressing view of the future."

Sarah put her hand on his shoulder. "But at least we will have each other." She said seriously, before moving in closer.

Jareth's heart felt like it was constricting, so he gulped. "And that's a good thing?"

Sarah blinked. "Of course. Don't you think so?"

He looked away.

"So is that what's in store for us or do you know a place to clean off? I think I'm getting leaches." She made a face.

"I do." He started to wade for the shore.

"Hold up, I'm coming two."

…

"Here we are." Jareth swept a rank, dirty arm to show off the steaming pool in front of him. "The cleansing waters."

"Very nice." Sarah complemented.

"And of course, our clothes are ruined, as we need to be naked to enter the purifying pool."

"Naturally." Sarah rolled her eyes, but obediently started to shuck her outer petticoats. "Could you help me?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him over a smirk.

"My dear, it would be my pleasure." Jareth assured her. He went around behind her and began to unlace the corset. Sarah flicked her still muck-damp hair out of the way and shifted to give him better access. Despite the ungodly odor, Jareth felt his blood stirring.

"Well, thank you, my liege." Sarah stepped out of the dress haughtily, garbed now in little more than muck and, yes, a few leaches. She grimaced in disgust and bent over to pick the leeches off of her ankles.

Jareth moved forward and ran his palm over the round swell of her bottom.

"Do I have a leech there, too?" Sarah purred.

"I did think I saw one." Jareth lied.

"Hmm." She slipped away from him, keeping him in the corner of her eye as she went to the edge of the water and tested its temperature. Finding it satisfactory, she lowered herself in. Almost instantly the mud evaporated and the oppressive smell lessened considerably. "Well, get in, Goblin King, or we shall smell all night." With that, she dipped her head under the water, coming out soaking wet but no longer muddy.

Jareth hurriedly pulled off his shirt and breeches and entered the water as well, dunking to rid himself of the muck in his white-gold hair.

Arms slid around him from behind and he turned.

"You are a lot smaller without all that fluff on your head." Sarah murmured as she ran her fingers though his wet locks.

"I assure you, madame, that I am not small at all." Jareth grinned back.

"Oh, shall we test that?" Sarah swam forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Absolutely. The past two Runners..." He shook his head- now was certainly not the time to be thinking about all the nonsense that had been going on lately. He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply, humming in pleasure at her immediate response.

Sarah pulled back, smiling. "Well, you know what they say."

"What?" Jareth asked, not really listening as he let his hands roam.

"These things come in three."

….

Jareth rolled over in bed and slid his leg underneath his partner's. A feminine mumble met his efforts. He ignored it with a smirk and started to move next to her. Sarah seemed to finally start to awaken and reciprocate.

"Jareth, what time is it even?"

"Doesn't matter, love- you can sleep in as late as you want." Jareth whispered into her ear.

"Well, I suppose..." She allowed.

Jareth captured her lips, smiling.

Sarah waved her free hand, but Jareth captured it with his and wove their fingers together. However, she still broke off the kiss to look up into space. Jareth grumpily followed her line of site. There, hanging in the darkness, was a glowing clock. He was pleased to see that it had the proper number of hours- thirteen.

"Jareth, it's not even yet four!"

….

"Well, it's an interesting way to play croquette I'll give you that." Sarah said, holding her squawking chicken aloft.

"I's made it up!" One of the goblins proclaimed proudly. It then proceeded to throw the chicken through suspended crystal balls/soap bubbles. The idea was to get the chicken to flutter through a train of them, until it hit the ground and took off running.

"I think playing it against the Goblin King." Sarah noted. "Seeing as he has total control over the crystals."

"But chickens hate King." The goblin disagreed.

Sarah grinned and chucked her chicken. It balked and didn't pop a single crystal. "Hm. Well, I guess I'm not so good at this." She turned to Jareth. "Your turn, I think."

Jareth took up a chicken then, with great concentration, sent his sailing through all of the obstacles.

"See!" Sarah laughed. "Entirely unfair."

Jareth swept her into his arms, and she laughed breathlessly, suspended almost upside down. "You should know better than to try to best me in a game, love."

"What's the score?" Sarah called to the goblin.

"King two." The goblin grumbled. "Me one, Lady nothing."

"Best three out of five?"

….

"I want you to stay with me." Jareth said suddenly.

"Stay?" Sarah turned from punting a goblin. "But I have been staying with you." She frowned in puzzlement. "I haven't been attending to my story in ages... not that it needs it."

Jareth stood up from his throne, walking over to her. He took the screaming goblin from her hands and chucked it over his shoulder. "I know. I mean officially."

Sarah gulped. "I..."

"Please just say yes." Jareth pleaded with her.

"But... why?" She looked down.

Jareth put his gloved finger under her chin, raising it up. "We have fun together, don't we?"

"Well, yes." Sarah replied. "Of course."

"We fit together..."

Sarah smirked, making Jareth's lips twitch as well.

"I mean, I've been lonely, before you came. Only the goblins, the Wished Away, and the Runners... and always I am bound by the Story as to how we all interact. This..." He gestured helplessly.

"I know what you mean." Sarah sighed. "But I don't think it will work that way."

"We can make it work." Jareth said fiercely.

Sarah stepped into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. "Like the mortals say- house, a dog, a picket fence and three children?"

"Three?" Jareth scoffed. "We need more than that!"

Sarah looked at him askance. "We're fae, Jareth. We don't have children easily."

"Precisely why we need to try for so many. They can run wild with the goblins." He hugged her tightly.

"We're adopting if you think that is going to happen. _I'm_ the one that would have to bear all these brats."

"Hmm." Jareth said into the top of her head, then kissed her hair. "Maybe. I do have a unique in on the baby trade."

Sarah laughed. "How many are we talking here? Four, five?"

"Oh, at least six." Jareth replied calmly.

Sarah's eyes took on a wicked gleam. "Six!"

…

"All joking aside, how do I know what you are feeling is real? You fall in love with those Runners all the time." Sarah sighed, her arms crossed over her chest as she turned away from the Goblin King.

"I can't help falling in love with them, dearest- it's in the words. But they always leave, anyway. They leave because they reject me and win, or they leave because I win and they get punted out of the Labyrinth. Even if they were to accept my proposal, it would never work."

Sarak turned half way, looking at him, bereft. "But... how can I love someone who is always mourning his love for others?"

Jareth bent on a knee, taking her hand and looking up at her earnestly. "It's not the same with you, love. I fell in love with you because of who you are, not because of any words, any spell."

At this, Sarah shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

Jareth scooted forward and pressed on. "We fit together, you and I. We like the same things, we can talk, play stupid games... you even like the goblins."

"How do you know that you're not just hoping for this to be true. We haven't even known each other that long!" Sarah protested, falling down onto her knees as well.

Jareth looked into her eyes. "When I am with you, I am happy. I think about you all the time, and it is distracting and wonderful. There is nothing I want to do but to make you happy. Please stay with me."

Sarah looked at him, her eyes shining.

"I love you."

Sarah rubbed her hand over her face. "Jareth, I..."

"Don't." He cut her off hurriedly. "I know it is quick. You don't have to say it." But inside his heart was starting toward that familiar feeling of shredding, of hopelessness- it didn't matter that it was something he chose this time, the ending was going to be the same.

"Oh!"Sarah grabbed him in a tight hold. "Don't do that. Don't do that... I... it's just a bit of a shock is all. Words mean so much to you, I didn't think you would come out and say it so baldly."

He hiccuped an unhappy noise.

"Oh, Jareth... I... love you two." Sarah whispered. "I didn't mean to, but I do."

And this... this was a new feeling. His heart wasn't shriveling, it wasn't breaking apart. It felt full, and huge, and he just laughed helplessly at the sheer joy of it. "You do?"

She punched him in the shoulder, causing him to fall back and laugh. "You're an ass! Making all this drama for no reason! Why couldn't we have just stayed with playing games and having fun. You never let me win and I'm determined to win once."

"I'll let you win right now, if you want." Jareth offered, feeling uncharacteristically and truly generous.

Sarah sniffed. "Ha. I'm in it for the long game. I will win and you won't even see it coming." She smirked at him. "You'll think everything is going swimmingly and then all the sudden it will go all pear-shaped. And you'll be all 'what is this? All sixes and seven?"

….

Jareth frowned slightly. He was listening for the baby moving, but that wasn't what his expression was for. His concentration was shattered at the moment. Something didn't seem quite right.

"Do you hear it, dearest?" Sarah asked softly, running her fingers through his soft, downy hair.

"No." Jareth sighed, sitting up. "Maybe you're not eating enough. It's starving the poor child."

Sarah laughed. "Oh, I don't think so." She grinned at him, the edge to it a bit malicious. "I already eight."

…..

Jareth felt a shock of cold dread shoot through his being and settle in his stomach. He swallowed nervously. His wife was obviously pregnant now, leaning back on her pillows and looking at him oddly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes half lidded.

But he didn't want to speak. If he was right... if he was right... oh dear gods. He shook his head in horror.

"Jareth?" His wife's voice sounded concerned. "What's wrong? Talk to me?"

But he couldn't. He... couldn't. Now that he was thinking about it, now that he was paying attention. He knew where he was. And it was the Labyrinth, yes, but more specifically... the feeling of his magic was too strong. The surroundings too... abstract. There had been that one goblin, though... right. It has said something. Could other things say something when... when... he didn't want to think about it.

He looked at his wife, who's brow was furrowed in confusion. He gulped again and licked his lips to try to get some moisture on his tongue. "Now, I don't want you to say anything." Jareth said quickly. "Just listen to me for a second. Either I am being overly paranoid and possibly having a mental break due to impending fatherhood, or this really is as I fear. And if you could please, with one word, let me know if you know what I am talking about, or if I'm quite insane, I would really much appreciate it."

Sarah looked at him, her eyes calculating now, and a bit sad. "Nine."

…..

Jareth curled up into a ball. He felt empty- worse than empty, like he was imploding. Like his whole world had turned to ash and shards and they were pulling him into his center and he would never escape. "No." He whispered brokenly. "No, no, no, NO, NO!"

"Ten."

…...

"Bog it!" Jareth cried out. Now it was quite clear. This magic... his magic- to trap the runner for the thirteen hours, or less if it was broken- a sure way to lose at least one hour, though. And he was trapped, somehow. How had he not noticed? How! Well, he knew how, of course, it felt like _his own magic_ because it _was_ and it felt like the Labyrinth, too. Familiar, comforting. All a _lie._

A toneless voice. "Eleven."

…...

Jareth deliberately avoided making even a peep of a sound. It was almost over. How could it be almost over? Was Sarah real? How could she be? Of course she was not. Ah, what a clever trick to keep him distracted. Probably pulled it all from his own subconscious.

"Jareth." Sarah cooed at him. She no longer appeared pregnant.

_Lies._ Tears leaked out of Jareth's forcefully closed eyes.

"You know how this works, now, don't you?" Sarah asked. "You have to say something, so that I can reply. I would have thought that you would have caught on earlier, honestly. I wasn't being all that subtle, especially in the beginning. You should have known the rules better than me!"

Jareth said nothing.

"Still just going to sit there in a pathetic ball? And what will that solve? Either way, when the hour is up, time will tick on. You just want to be miserable?"

Jareth looked at her, and his heart, which he had thought was totally destroyed- it made a painful lurch at the sight of her. She was beautiful. Even more so in this light- as the victor. Her smile was vicious. And Jareth was even more in love with her than he had been. All impossible, though- she wasn't real. Of course not. Who could love him? His existence was rigged to preclude the possibility.

"Please, please don't say it. Just let me ask you something first."

Sarah looked at him, then nodded.

"Did you do this to deliberately lie to me? To tear my soul like this?"

"You're being overly dramatic again." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You know how this curse works. You set the way everything would go. Why you started us in a ballroom? I don't know. Why you dumped yourself in a bog? Even less of a clue. Though I did jump in after you." She grinned maliciously. "But I knew it wasn't real, didn't I?"

"Are you real?" Jareth asked miserably.

"No." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I told you. I'm not the main character in this story. I didn't even have a name, did I? Just a pawn to win this contest. To conquer your power."

"You didn't start with that goal." Jareth frowned. He would have sensed that.

"No, I didn't." Sarah waved a hand. "I was trying to give you a piece of the Labyrinth back. You had been neglecting it for many Runners, now, and I rather think you couldn't even see it."

The peach. He had known it was there. "Why did I eat it?" He snarled to himself.

"Don't look at me." Sarah shrugged. "I don't even know if you knew you were doing it."

"I didn't." Jareth frowned. "I don't remember eating it."

"Hmm." Sarah looked him over. "It was in the water."

"The water?" Jareth thought back. He drank water all the time- what water?

"Well, no matter. Are you going to try to win this?"

"I won't... if you will stay with me." Jareth had to stop, his throat was closing up. "If you will let me stay with you..." He swallowed, then wrapped his arms around himself tightly. "Until the end." He whispered brokenly.

Sarah looked at him, something like pity in her eyes. "Well... there isn't much left of this hour." She noted uncomfortably.

"I know." Jareth closed his eyes.

Sarah sighed. Jareth thought she was going to say it... say 'eleven' and have this scene end. But instead her arms came around him. "You are a fool, you know."

Jareth didn't reply, he just put his head onto her shoulder. "You're dying."

"I never existed."

"You're dying from my perspective." Jareth managed to squeeze out of his constricted throat.

"You'll be ok." She said unhappily, stroking his hair and curling up around him. "It will all be ok." She kissed his forehead. "You've been through this before."

"Not like this." Jareth said brokenly.

"No." Sarah sighed. "But you know how to cope."

"This time... this time might be the one that breaks me." Jareth shuddered. When it had been the spell, it was just the feeling that had been there- but without his own thoughts and rationale to back it up, it had been hollow. The love, the grief, he could distance himself if he wanted to. And he did. He was good at it. This time... looking back he could tell that it was a dream, but like in a dream, the middle sequences were filled in. It honestly felt like he had lived for over a year with this woman. That they had slowly fallen in love... he had been looking forward to children. His own children!

"It's time." Sarah said. "Twelve."

…..

Jareth was crying almost as soon as he felt the scene forming around him. And again Sarah was with him. She led him to a bed and he wrapped himself around her. Her body felt comforting, familiar against his own. He couldn't imagine that this would never happen again. That it had never really happened at all. How was he going to sleep? How could he? It seemed to him that he had been sleeping with her for a long time. He already missed her.

They didn't say anything, nothing at all. When the hour was over, everything shattered.


	6. End

OoOooooO

Chapter

OoOOoOoO

Jareth tried to move, but pain shot through his neck and down into his shoulder. He groaned and slumped forward, finally righting himself from his completely ungainly position. He was next to a pool of water, but kept from drowning in it by a large turquoise scaled and white furred body.

Then he remembered. He grabbed his head with his hands, curled his elbows around his knees and started to keen in misery.

Something touched his shoulder and against all possibility, he felt a swell of hope in his breast. He looked up, trying not to feel anything but curiosity as it could NOT be what he wanted it to be.

Gekko tilted his head at Jareth. "Are you done soaking yourself in salt water?" The dragon asked.

Jareth just laughed. Hysterically, brokenly.

Gekko huffed in annoyance. "You lost, you know. That was a pathetic showing. Most Runners can get out of that within a few rounds."

Jareth just dropped his head back onto his knees. He couldn't stop crying.

A tongue swept across his cheeks and Jareth fell back, sputtering.

"Hmm." Gekko commented. "What an odd secretion."

Jareth growled at him unintelligibly and tried to get up, propping himself up on the dragon's side. He managed to get into a half- standing position before he gave up. It was sort of nice to be against something warm. He still couldn't stop crying, but now he felt hollow inside, not so terribly raw. He was sure that would come again, but for now he enjoyed the reprieve.

"If you think I am going to continue guarding you while you have a dramatic moment, you are wrong." stated Gekko. Jareth did not respond for a long time.

"I just want it to be real." Jareth whispered raggedly. "I just want her to be real."

"That's foolish." Gekko replied.

Right. Foolish. Of course it was. Uncaring creatures more force of nature than being didn't turn into women. Didn't suddenly become compassionate and caring. Certainly didn't lick tears away to soote, hold tight to protect, or... or... love... Jareth justl ooked at his hands, bleak.

When nothing more was forthcoming, the dragon stood and moved away. Jareth staggered but managed to remain somewhat upright.

"As expected, water wins. Water always wins, in the end." Gekko said. "Rock puts up a better fight." He said in disgust. "Pull yourself together, Goblin King. You still need to do your job. I have no desire to."

"You wouldn't be able to." Jareth frowned faintly. He didn't seem to have enough emotion to be properly worked up about this.

"You surrendered your power to me." Gekko snapped. "So I will have to, won't I?" And with that, he slipped into that water and was gone.

Jareth stared at the pond until all the ripples faded away. He knew the dragon was right. He felt weak from more than just grief. His power was filtered, now. He had let it go.

There was nothing he could do about it- nothing he wanted to do. It was all over.


End file.
